


A bonding exercise involving fists

by Tinglecannon



Series: Just a bunch of Fair Game fics: because they deserved better [7]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Clover earning his Uncle status, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, Family Feels, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Let Clover Ebi Say Fuck, Listen if Ruby gets all of Qrow's attention than Yang gets Clover's it's only fair, M/M, Mild Language, Qrow shows up at the end and Blake is mentioned but fairgame & bumbleby are the ships y'all, They have so much in common too; gay; goth partners; puns; muscles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23777017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinglecannon/pseuds/Tinglecannon
Summary: Clover was ashamed to admit he hasn’t spent much time getting to know the young Huntsmen and Huntresses that crashed unannounced in Mantle a couple of weeks ago, instead spending every minute not up to his neck in his own work getting to know (and flirting with) Qrow. It felt even worse because all the kids were important to Qrow, but Ruby and Yang were hisnieces, and Clover was wholly unsure how to carry a conversation with either of them.Yang far more so than Ruby.He observed how she went about rewrapping the bandages with a furrowed brow and decided maybe a conversation isn’t what she needed right now.
Relationships: Clover Ebi & Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Just a bunch of Fair Game fics: because they deserved better [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646842
Comments: 23
Kudos: 146





	A bonding exercise involving fists

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pretentiouskneecap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretentiouskneecap/gifts).



> (djfalksdj I tried to upload this already and deleted the tab like a dumbass so here I am again.)  
> On one of my other fics the lovely Pretentiouskneecap commented that they wanted to see more Clover and Yang bonding and I was like "Bitch me too, the fuck" so I wrote this! It turned out longer than I expected but my writing is always longer than I expect.  
> I apologize if Yang feels super OOC here, I haven't written her extensively before and I'm worried it reads weird cuz she's not as confident as usual and they're both kind of awkward but that's the point they haven't really hung out before.
> 
> (Also if you're looking for more Clover and Yang bonding fics I highly recommend AceofDreams' fic Questions !)

It wasn’t the most unusual thing for Clover to get a ping on his scroll that a training room was rented out late in the night.

Looking at the name did raise an eyebrow, but he decided it was probably fine to leave it be.

Until two hours went by and the room was still marked as ‘occupied’.

Clover had just finished the last of his scheduling and reports for the day and noticed when checking his scroll once more before getting ready for bed himself.

He leaned back in his desk chair staring at his scroll for a few moments, debating if he should just leave them to it and turn in, or if he should go seek them out to check if they’re ok. He didn’t want to come off as overbearing, after all he had no idea what their habits or sleep schedule was like, though he knew the next morning would be rather rough on them if they didn’t go to bed soon. Atlas days start at ‘the ass crack of dawn’, as Qrow had so eloquently worded it. 

Though Clover would never repeat that out loud. Agree yes, but not repeat.

One more minute of pondering later and Clover got up, put his boots back on over his military-issued sweats, clipped Kingfisher to his waistband, and headed towards the training rooms.

Clover moved quietly, as he always did, but with extra caution so late at night. It was approaching 1130 hours and accidentally waking someone was not something he wanted to be responsible for. When he reached the training room in question, he opened his scroll, added his name, and pushed the door open.

Grunts of exertion bounced off the walls, and a loud crash of a stack of blocks breaking rang out. Clover moved a little louder, not trying to muffle his footsteps, towards the sounds of labored breathing.

“Good evening, Yang.”

Yang visibly stiffened then turned her head to the side, her long blond hair tied into a ponytail whipped over her shoulder with the movement. Purple irises blinked once, twice, then they narrowed a bit, no longer open wide in shock. 

Clover held his hands up, “I apologize, I didn’t intend to startle you.”

“‘S fine,” Yang sighed, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead. Clover took in her appearance, from her sweat slicked bangs, deep ragged breaths, and slightly worn bandages wrapped over her knuckles.

“You’ve been at it for a while,” He stated in a neutral tone.

Yang’s face twitched into a scowl for just a moment, but it was long enough. “Yeah, well, that’s what these rooms are for, right?” She flinched at the harshness of her own tone, heaved a deep sigh and muttered, “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a soft smile. He felt a little accomplished when she smiled back, albeit weakly, before looking back down at her fists.

Now where to go.

Clover was ashamed to admit he hasn’t spent much time getting to know the young Huntsmen and Huntresses that crashed unannounced in Mantle a couple of weeks ago, instead spending every minute not up to his neck in his own work getting to know (and flirting with) Qrow. It felt even worse because all the kids were important to Qrow, but Ruby and Yang were his _nieces_ , and Clover was wholly unsure how to carry a conversation with either of them.

Yang far more so than Ruby.

He observed how she went about rewrapping the bandages with a furrowed brow and decided maybe a conversation isn’t what she needed right now.

Clover moved to stand next to her and stretched his arms above his head, rolling his shoulders as he brought them back down. He could see Yang watching him from the corner of his eye, face open and curious. He smirked down at her, and the next words he said might as well have been magic with the way her face lit up; “Wanna spar?”

Yang laughed, a shit-eating grin spreading on her face as her eyes danced with excitement. “What, you’re not gonna nag at me to go to bed?”

Clover shrugged, “I figured it’d be quicker to just kick your ass until you’re too tired to keep going.”

Yang’s eyebrows shot to her hairline. "'Ass’?”

“Ah, sorry,” Clover rubbed his chin. “That was fairly inappropriate of me to swear in front of you, huh?” 

It was a gamble; he figured being more casual would make him more approachable to Yang, help ease some of the tension she carried in her shoulders and maybe make future conversation easier, but perhaps he miscalculated.

Winter would be beside herself if she heard him speak that way to a teenager, especially one related to Qrow Branwen.

Yang blinked once before a noisy snort ripped through her throat. She leaned forward, one hand braced on her knee and the other clamped over her mouth to muffle her proceeding laughter. Well, maybe that didn’t go over so badly.

“If I win, you have to say ‘fuck’,” Yang finally said when she calmed down enough. “Really loud, loud enough it echoes off the walls.” She gestured with a sweep of her arms and giggled a few more times.

Clover rested one hand on his hip, the other now cupping his chin as he pursed his lips together. “Hm, alright I guess. You can’t take a video though.”

“Deal,” Yang nodded. “And I assume you want me to go to bed if you win.”

“You assume correctly,” Clover nodded back. Yang held out her mechanical arm and he accepted, one firm shake to agree on the terms.

Yang nodded once more then pivoted on her heel and strolled a few meters away, Clover doing the same in the opposite direction. When she turned back she called out, “I’m curious if those arms are just for show! I mean, why _else_ do you not wear sleeves?”

Clover chuckled and lightly plucked the front of his tank top, “I don’t get cold easily. And the arms are dual-purpose; looks _and_ function.”

Yang laughed loudly, shaking her head as she got into position. Crouched down slightly, arms raised in front of her with her hands clenched into fists, and legs shoulder-width apart. Her face morphed into one of fierce concentration, so much so Clover swore her eye color seemed to flicker for a second.

Clover mirrored her stance, his right arm out front instead, and waited for her to move first.

Which took all of two seconds.

She moved much faster than he anticipated, though that just made the flurry of punches and roundhouse kicks even more impressive. These kids were certainly something.

Clover took a defensive fighting stance as Yang pushed offense, each punch he blocked harder than the last. When Yang went for another kick, he blocked it with his arm then swept her other leg out from under her. She yelped as she went down, but spun right back up on her feet as he jumped out of the way.

Yang dashed forward again, throwing a fist towards his stomach, which he easily side-stepped. She growled in frustration and tried to swing her elbow back against him, however it didn't have enough speed behind it so he effortlessly caught it one hand then chopped her side with his other hand.

She fell harshly onto one knee, taking longer to get back up this time as she sucked in rapid, shallow breaths. It wasn’t that she was an easy opponent to defeat, quite the contrary; Clover could tell she had excellent training and a lot of experience for her age.

He just had a lot more. 

And the advantage of not having punched himself ragged the last couple hours.

Yang fixed him with a glare as she got back up, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand before charging once more. She moved even faster, and the punch she threw towards his shoulder that he caught aside his arm stung quite a bit.

Oh right, her semblance.

Two can play at that game.

It wasn’t as easy or clean to focus his semblance without his pin, but it wasn’t undoable. He channeled as much good fortune as he could feel dancing lightly around him into his fist, almost literally grabbing a handful of the energy from the air. When Yang swung her fist forward again, not only did she miss, but Clover only had to gently shove her to get her to trip over her own feet, falling flat on her stomach past him with a loud ‘oof!’

“That, _ugh_ ,” Yang groaned, heaving heavy, slow breaths. “That wasn’t fair.”

“You used your semblance first,” Clover replied, but leaned down to offer her a hand up anyway.

Which was _apparently_ a mistake, because the moment she took his hand a sly smirk spread on her face.

And she sucker-punched him in the stomach with her other arm.

Thankfully it didn’t carry as much force as any of her other hits thus far, though not by nearly enough in his honest opinion.

She sprung back onto her feet and scrambled back a little ways, bouncing from one foot to the other in a clear display of playful mocking. “Come on, _Captain_ , you aren’t dumb enough to fall for a trick like that.”

Clover grunted softly, then stood straight up again with one hand clenching his stomach, an unimpressed frown marring his features. “And you said _I_ was being unfair.”

Yang scoffed, “ _Please_ , your abs are rock hard, I _know_ that didn’t hurt much.” Then she snickered and piped up again, “We could always stop if you don’t have the _stomach_ to keep going!”

Clover huffed a laugh at that and moved to mirror her position again, only to notice Yang dropped her arms slightly. “Oh! You laughed.” 

He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug, “Sure, who doesn’t love a good pun.”

That answer seemed to please Yang, because the smirk she was wearing softened to a more genuine smile.

“See, you get it. You’re my kind of people, Cap'.”

Clover smiled back, his cheeks aching a little it was so wide. 

He felt warmth tingling in his stomach and up his ribcage, a far different sensation than the butterflies he got around Qrow, but pleasant nonetheless. He was satisfied with himself at how he seemed to be navigating this all well, impressed with Yang’s endurance and skills, hopeful that this meant future interactions would go well too, and relieved to see her smiling and laughing instead of tensed and distracted like earlier.

“Aren’t I lucky.”

Yang barked a laugh at that, taking a second before lunging back towards him. As fun as this has been, Clover thought it was time to wrap things up, so when her fist came flying towards his face he grabbed it by the wrist, twisted it roughly behind her back, kicked her legs out from beneath her, and pinned her to the ground.

Yang, to her credit, squirmed and twisted in his grasp as best as she could, trying in vain to escape. After a minute she sighed and tapped her other hand against the ground. “Ok, ok, I yield. You win.”

Clover immediately released her and helped her to her feet. She rubbed the arm he had pinned the moment she was back up again and pouted up at him. “You couldn’t just let me win, huh?”

Clover snorted, “Like you would’ve accepted that.”

“Ah, you _are_ smart,” Yang smirked. “You’re right, that would’ve just pissed me off more than before.”

There was a delicate silence hanging in the air.

Yang looked down at her arm as she rubbed it, holding them both in front of her. It was a very...guarded position. Clover’s never seen her look so small or unsure, completely unlike how she carried herself day-to-day since he’s met them all.

Asking about it when he first joined her in the training room probably would’ve further upset her, but maybe now?

“Listen. I know we don’t really know each other that well, Yang, but ---”

“I know, and I appreciate it,” Yang cut him off softly. Her eyes flickered between two nameless points on the ground as she visibly weighed her options. 

“I...noticed how you are around Qrow.”

Oh. That’s...not where he was expecting this to go.

“So...I know you’re someone that will listen. That’s...good with this stuff.” Yang waved her hand in a sweeping gesture, then glanced up at him with a small smirk. “I mean, he doesn’t open up to just _anyone_ , even if he thinks they’re hot.”

“Ah, that’s good to know...Wait, how would you know if he thinks I’m hot?”

“Please, neither of you are subtle and I’ve known my uncle my entire life,” Yang scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

Silence fell between them again, though this felt lighter than the one before. Delicate still, but comfortable.

“Everything with Salem, it's all...scary. And stressful,” Yang sighed. “I’m trying to stay strong for everyone but it gets to me sometimes, y’know?”

Clover chuckled humorlessly, "Trust me, I do. It’s not always easy wearing a brave face all the time.”

Yang stared back up at him, eyes searching his face for any signs he's just placating her. 

After a few seconds she smiled, the action reaching her eyes this time. “Thanks. That ass kicking is just what I needed.”

Clover hesitated briefly, worried he might end up overstepping and ruin this all; he desperately didn't want to come off as patronizing. Yang especially seemed like someone who would resent that. 

Finally, he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed in a way he hoped felt reassuring. “No problem. Now go the fuck to bed.”

Purple eyes practically bulged out of her skull as her jaw dropped. “You! I didn’t even win but ---”

“Which is why I didn’t say it loud enough to echo,” He smirked, then nodded his head towards the exit. “Now come on, I can walk you back if you want.”

Yang gawked up at him a little longer, then burst out into a fit of giggles, dropping her head so her bangs covered her face. Clover couldn’t help chuckling along himself. Exhaustion pulled at his senses and he absently wondered what time it was, but he was enjoying himself spending time with Yang, and wanted to make sure she was feeling better before they parted for the night.

Lack of sleep was tomorrow Clover's problem.

Eventually, the laughter subsided and her breathing languidly evened out. She reached a hand up to pat his that still rested on her shoulder. “Thanks...really. I’m glad it was you that showed up.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah well, how else can I tease you for dating my uncle if we don’t ever hang out?”

Clover choked on air. Which only made Yang laugh again. Great.

“We aren’t dating ---”

“Yet.”

Clover fixed her with a pointed stare, which she returned with a shit-eating grin. “Enough about Qrow and me, how are things going between you and Ms.Belladonna?”

Yang’s face flushed in an instant, and she shoved him hard enough to remove his hand and started stalking towards the door. “Shut up.”

Clover bit back a laugh and followed her to the door. When they got to the hallway she said nothing as he followed her all the way back to her dorm. The silence was comfortable, and it gave Clover a chance to glance at his scroll and find it was well past midnight. He grimaced at the numbers on the screen, his morning was going to be rough.

When they reached their destination, she twirled on her heel to face him.

“I meant all that stuff earlier. And Qrow cares about you.”

Clover smiled, unsure when he became such a sap but unable to stop himself all the same. “I know. Blake cares about you too. Don’t think talking to her, or your sister, or anyone else will be a burden. Everyone is here for you.”

Yang snorted and rolled her eyes, but she kept a small smile on her face. “Yeah, I know.” She typed the dorm code into the keypad and grabbed the handle when it unlocked. She stood there for a second longer, then threw Clover an evil looking smirk.

“Hey, next time you and Qrow go on one of your ‘not dates’ ask him about the pictures of him in a skirt from his Beacon days.”

Clover’s eyebrows raised at that, and he eloquently responded with, “What?”

“You heard me! If he won’t show you I got a copy on my scroll,” She winked. She waved one last time before whispering, “Good luuuuuuckkkk!”, and gently clicking the door shut behind her.

Clover stared at the door, shook his head, and headed back to his own room.

He felt fuzzy all over, a light pleasant buzzing just under the skin, similar to however he felt when one of the Ace Ops or someone else asked him for assistance or advice and he was able to successfully help. He wasn’t sure what to expect when first seeing Yang’s name pop up on the training room notification, however, he could confidently say he’s glad he went over there.

As he collapsed into bed he made a vow to himself to spend more time with all those kids.

\---

Clover has gone many nights without enough sleep, and is certain he will, unfortunately, go many more in the future.

He sipped at his coffee as he glanced over the information on his scroll and set up the projector for the morning debriefing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shock of blonde hair and turned to look.

“Morning!” Yang said in a far too chipper voice given she got just as little sleep as he did. Ah, the youth and their boundless energy.

“Good morning, Yang. How are you feeling today?”

“Much better,” She replied, voice soft and laced with gratitude. The moment didn’t last long as she clapped her hands together and spoke in a much more animated tone. “So! I was thinking we should train again soon, I plan to win next time and get my prize.”

Clover huffed a laugh, “Is that so?”

“It is,” Yang nodded, a self-assured smirk on her face. “Maybe if you win I’ll tell you an embarrassing story about Qrow. Or maybe some first date suggestions.”

“Alright, Yang, go take a seat the meeting is starting soon.” Clover shook his head, barely registering her calling out “Just let me know!” as she scurried off.

Qrow must’ve just entered the room, because he moved to where Yang was standing a second ago, looking over at how she leaned heavily against Blake’s chair with an arm around her shoulder, then turned to Clover. “What was that about?” He asked, taking a sip from his own mug.

“Ah, I’ll tell you later,” Clover smiled. He was always happy to see Qrow, especially in the early mornings when his hair was still a little fizzy and fluffed in places. It was unfair how adorable it looked. “You should get a second cup, this meeting is going to be extra dull.”

“Of course it is,” Qrow grumbled with an exaggerated eye roll.

As Qrow headed back to the coffee machine in the corner, Clover locked eyes with Yang. She gave him a not-at-all-discreet thumbs up. He snorted softly, then cleared his throat. “Alright, everyone, please be seated. There’s a lot to go over today, so let’s get started.”

**Author's Note:**

> Clover needs to come back to 1. Kiss Qrow, 2. Tell more luck puns, 3. Be an uncle
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! [This is my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tinglecannon)


End file.
